Royal Bank (RY.TO)

S&P has downgraded this bank because of the size of their energy book. This one has the premier Canadian franchise, and also a more aggressive capital market wealth management. However, you can’t go wrong with a Canadian bank. Dividend yield of 4.08%.

He is bullish on financials. This one is coming back into a leadership role. A nudge in rates would be very positive for them. Their exposure to capital markets puts them into a good position if markets slowly improve. Consider US banks also, such as JPM-N.

Wealth management is the largest driver. They live and die with the Canadian economy. There will be on going dividend increases. They have some downside here and at that point you have the opportunity to step in.

(Market Call Minute) Part of a balanced portfolio. Make sure you have some Canadian banks in there. He has other Canadian banks in his portfolio.

Wait until after earnings in case low energy prices have trickled down? He likes the banks. Great dividends of around 4% and great opportunities to increase dividends by 5%-7%. Thinks concerns on bad loans due to oil prices is getting a little overdone. They have been setting money aside to deal with bad loans.

It is a steady ship, one of Canada’s largest financial institutions. They are well managed, diversified, well balanced between their various business divisions. Today they don’t sell for as much of a premium as they used to. He would buy it on any pull back. They completed their purchase of City National Bank so that should contribute to earnings going forward They are reestablishing their footprint in the US again.

You can’t have a growing economy without the banks participating. They have been beaten up pretty badly over the last year or so. This one is a good risk/reward play. The fears, mostly outside of Canada, has been Canadian housing. Canadian housing will slow, but not crash. Also, everybody is worried about the banks’ energy exposure and exposure to Alberta. That has been pretty well contained. Feels this is the best in class on the Canadian division. They also have a very good investment banking department. You get the added bump with the City National acquisition that just closed in November and coming through in 2016.

The banking sector is undervalued. Within the sector RY-T has underperformed. She thinks concerns are manageable. They increased provisions for loan losses in energy, but they are still quite low. She does not think the Canadian economy is going into recession. You will see improvements in other sectors to offset energy. It is trading at an attractive valuation. 4.5% dividend and it was increased last quarter.

His model price is $78.90, an 8.5% upside. Unfortunately, there is big, big resistance at $74.30.

Doesn’t tend to be on his favourite list, but because it has sold off, the multiple is quite reasonable. They could probably up their dividend and do well. The largest Canadian bank. He doesn’t see huge exposure on the energy side. Has always been a well-run bank. Prefers others. (See Top Picks.)

Caller interested in a 3 year hold. It is a goodish term of hold. It is one of his favourite of the 5 big Canadian banks. They are getting a battering because people are generally against the banking system. They have all been punished.

Thinks banks are just going to be flat lining. This one looks okay in the high $60s and is currently in the low $70s. There is a whole pocket of support at around mid-$60 levels. This bank is at the top of the heap, so if there is one financial of all the financials that he would hold, it would be this. Doesn’t see a lot of downside, but also not a lot of upward movement. There is no reason to sell Canadian banks.

(A Top Pick Feb 10/15. Down 7.73%.) The banking sector has been down on a one-year basis. Thinks this is on concerns that the Canadian economy is going into a recession. The whole banking sector, including this one, is really attractive at this time. Trading at very low valuations. Gives you a yield of about 4.5%.

(A Top Pick Feb 25/15. Down 4.88%.) Still likes it and has been buying recently. When you can buy banks at 10-11 times earnings, with a 4.5%-5% yield, it is worth while. Banks have pulled back because of a number of factors, including worries about the economy and energy exposure. This one is a very diversified bank.

New Preferred shares? Thinks this is referring to one that was just issued that has an annual dividend rate of 5.5%. A nice new benchmark rate with about a 465 spread reset. This stabilizes the preferred market, and is one you can buy and hold.